Oil well tool



w. vw. wlLsoN OIL WELL TOOL July 27, 1937.

- Filed Aug. 25, 1934' 35m2/wwwa.l Zz/.ZaO-m; l

Patented July 27, 1937 IUNITED STATES PATE-NT OFFICE-g is Claims.v (ci. sos-'420) The present invention relates to a self-lubricating pintle for oil well tools, and particularly to a pintle which may be used in connection with the pipe tongs used in drilling operations andthe like. Y

The principal object ofthe invention is to provide such a pintlewhich will be free from jamming or freezing, and which may be maintained in condition for smooth and efficient operation in spite of the trying conditions to which oil well tools are subjected.

'Another object of the invention is to provide a pintle which is adapted to receive lubricant under high pressure when the pintle and associated bearings are frozen, in order to` quickly clear the same.

4 A further object of the invention is to provide a pintle for use with oil well tools of this character, which is so constructed that it provides maximum resistance to the stresses to which the pintle is subjected. f

Other objects and advantages of the invention willbe apparent "as the' description progresses.

The drawing is illustrative Vof the application of the invention to oil well tongs, although it will be apparent that'the invention may be used v with advantage in connection with other oil well tools which have members pivoted to one another, such as elevators, and the like.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a well known form of pipe tongs, said tongs being provided with selflubricating pintles, f

Figure2 i-s a side elevation of the vtongs shown in Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is an enlarged detailed view showing a self-lubricating pintle associated with the members which it pivotally secures together.

In oilwell operations, it is necessary to use heavy tools in handling. the relatively heavy equipment, such as drill pipe and the like. In drilling wells, it is essentialthat such operations as securing together and breaking down the sections of drill pipe be conducted with speed, and in these operations tools having pivoted'members such as tongs, are used. Due to the conditions encountered in drilling operations, the tools,` such as the tongs, frequently become covered with mud, and this mud often seeps into the bearing surfaces where the pintles movably secure the pivoted members of the tools together, and when the mud solidifies, the tools are apt to freeze or jam., Heretofore, and when using the conventional type of pintle, it has been the practice to lremove the same from the tool, clean the jlpiritle and the bearing surfaces and then replace the'pintle. Due to the great expense involved in eirpenditureof time in oil well operations, it ls highly desirable to provide a construction of tongs or other oil well tool having plvoted members which can be quickly cleared of the subl stance whichcauses the freezing or'jamming Without removing the pintle from its bearings, and vwhich can be constantly maintained well lubricated.

It is also essential in the construction of such heavy equipment as tongs and otherk oil well tools having pivoted members to have a pintle securingl these members together `which is straight and true, and which will be heavy enough and composed of hard steel to withstand the extreme stresses to which the pintle is subjected.

relatively heavy pintles, and by providing said pintles with a longitudinal bore `throughout the major part of their length, that the pintles will not become warped, and will be suiciently rugged to withstand the heavy duty to which they are subjected. Furthermore, I have found that `by providing ahollow pintle for application to these, types of tools, lubricant `may be carried and self-fed to the bearing surfaces surrounding the pintle, and if the pivoted parts tend to become frozen or jammed, the same may be. cleared by application of additional lubricant under high pressure to the pintle and thus to the ,bearing surfaces surrounding the same.

Figures l and 2 disclose tongs of the well known type,.said tongs comprising in the main, inner jaws Ill and Il, outer jaws I2 and I3 and an operating handle I4. The inner end of the inner jaw I!) is bifurcated to form, spaced arms I6 and Il', vand said arms have bored therein cylindrical bearing apertures I8 and I9, said apertures being in alignment. Asbest disclosed in Figure 2, the operating handle I4 is also bored to pro- Avide a cylindrical bearing aperture 2|, and said aperture is in alignment with the apertures I3 and I9 in the spaced arms when the tongs is assembled. To pivotally secure the inner jaw III bifurcated, and is pivotally mounted to the operating handle I4 by a pintle 2li.

It will be observed that the pivots provided by the pintles 23 and 24 are oiset tosuch an extent that when the operating handles moved in the direction indicated by the arrow, in Figure 1, the jaws of the tongs will be brought together.`

The outer end of the inner jaw I I is extended to form a knuckle. 26, anda bearingaperture 2l of said knuckle is in alignment with the bearing apertures 28 and 29 in the bifurcated arms 3l and 32 respectively of the inner end of the outer jaw member I3. A pintle 33 is mounted in the bearing apertures 28, 21 and 29, in order to pivotally secure together the jaw members II and i3.

I have'found that by equipping these tools with As shown in Figure 1, the jaw members I0 and I2 are also pivotally mounted to one another by means of a pintle 35, in an identical manner with that described above in connection with the pivotal mounting of the jaw members Il and I3.

In order to lock the tongs in place around a pipe section or the like, a, latch member 31 is provided, said member having a knuckle at its inner end which is aligned between bearing apertures in the bifurcated outer end of the jaw member I2, the latch member and jaw member being pivotally retained one to the other by a pintle 38.

It will thus be seen that in a tongs of this well known construction, at least five pintles are necessary to pivotally secure together the adjacent members of the tongs. With such a heavy construction as is necessary in tools of this character, and when the conditions surrounding their uses are considered, it is obvious that there is great danger that one of the five pivots of such a tool will become frozen or jammed by reason of the solidfication of the mud or because of inadequate lubrication. In addition, due to the heavy construction of the jawv members, considerable strain is put upon the pintles, and it will therefore be apparent that pintles of relatively great strength are highly desirable.

Referring to Figure 3, the preferred form of the lubricating pintle for use with tongs or other oil well tools having pivoted members is shown. The pintle is made oflstee'l and vis of heavy construction as is necessary for pintles when used with tools of this character. The pintle is of cylindrical shape, and its outside cylindrical surface extends the major length of the pintle, said surface being smooth to provide a journal for cooperation with the bearings of the members which are pivoted by the pintle. Extending substantially throughout the length of the pintle is a relatively narrow lubricant receiving bore 40, said bore when filled constituting a lubricant reservoir. To convey the lubricant from the reservoir to the outer surface of the pintle where the same passes through the bearings of the pivoted members, a plurality of lubricant feed passages 4I, 42 and 43 are provided. It Will be noted that the outer ends of said ypassages are ared as at 4I', 42 and 43', to facilitate free flow of the lubricant to the bearing surfaces,- and to maintain a quantity of the lubricant at said bearing surfaces. i

In Figure 3, the broken lines indicate the position of the parts of the pivoted members withvv respect to the pintle, the letters A designating the spaced arms of the pivoted member which is bifurcated, as the jaw of a tongs, while the letter B designates the end of the pivoted meinber which is positioned between the spaced arms of the bifurcated member, this member corresponding to the knuckle extension of one of the jaws of the tongs, or such a member as the operating handle I4 which is disposed between the spaced arms of the bifurcated inner end of the jaws I0 and II.

In Figure 3, it will be observed that the feed passages 4|, 42 and 43 extend outwardly from the bore 40 at substantially the mid-portion of the length of each of the bearing surfaces provided in the pivoted members A and B.

The pintles arev of such diameter with respect to the diameters of the bearing apertures, that when mounted within the same and properly lubricated, both pivoted membersr will move with respect to the pintle, which functions in a man- -ner similar to a fixed pivot pin.

To limit the extent of insertion of the pintle within the bearing surfaces with which the pivoted members are equipped, an enlarged head is formed integral with the pintle, the lower edge of said head constituting a circular stop shoulder `4I5. This relatively large head may be used in driving the pintle into position. The lower end of the pintle is bored diametrically as at 48 for the reception of a cotter or other retaining pin, to insure that the pintle will remain in position. At the upper end of the pintle, the bore 40 mergesinto a relatively wide concentric and substantially cylindrical counter-bore 5D, and arranged within said counter-bore is a suitable lubricant receiving fitting 5I, said fitting being threaded as at 52 into the open end of the bore 40. The fitting 5I is of a type adapted for connection with the discharge outlet of a high pressure lubricant dispensing device or gun, said tting having a hollow passage throughout its length which enters at its inner end into the bore 40, and is provided at its outer end with a spring pressed ball valve to close the inlet when the same is disconnected from the lubricant dispensing device or gun. It will be noted that by reason of the depth of the counter-bore 5U, the fitting 5I is completely housed and protected by the pintle head 45, the upper end of the tting being a substantial distance below the upper end of the pintle when the fitting is screwed into position.- It will be noted that the counterbore 5U is of sumciently greater diameter than the diameter of the fitting 5I to permit the end of the high pressure lubricant dispensing device to enter the counterbore and surround the fitting 5I. tting 5I is provided with suitable projections or lugs, shown in Figure 3, to be received in suitable bayonet slots or the like on the end of the high pressure lubricant receiving device or gun, to tightly lock the lubricant dispensing device to the tting within the counterbore during the injection under high pressure of the lubricant.

If a tool equipped with pintles as described above becomes coveredrwith the mud which is used in wells, or for any other reasonbecomes frozenthe defect may be quickly remedied by connecting a lubricant dispensing device or gun to the fitting 5 I and forcing lubricant under high pressure into the bore or reservoir 40 of the pintle. This lubricant will first ll the reservoir, and will then be forced out through the feed passages 4I 42 and 43 to the outer Isurface of the pintle to lubricate the same, and replace the mud or .other obstructionwith lubricant. In driving out mud which may have hardened upon the oil well tool or tongs, and in the bearing surfaces thereof, it may be necessary td force in lubricant under pressure as high as twenty-five hundred pounds per square inch. If operation lis-periodically carried out, the possibility of the tongs becoming frozen will be precluded;

In manufacturing this pintle, it is centrally bored to form the lubricant reservoir, after which `it is heated to the proper temperature and then quenched as in oil to harden the metal from its surfaces inwardly to the desiredY depth. By

thus treating the bored pintle, the metal for a substantial depth inwardly from the outer surface of the pintle will be relatively hard, and the metal surrounding the bore 40 will be relatively hard for a substantial depth outwardly from said bore, this hardening being illustrated by the shading in Figure 3. This method, of first forming The:

the longitudinal bore and then quenching the 76 of the central bore, but in addition, an increased pintle is particularly beneficial when practiced in the manufacture of pintles for oil well tools, as these pintles are of such size and thickness that if solid, only a relatively small amount of the metal adjacent the outer surface is hardened, leaving a relatively great amount of soft metal v at the center of the pintle with consequent weakness of the pintle.

By this method of constructing the pintle, not only is the same of increased strength by reason amount of the metal constituting the pintle is hardened than would be the case with a pintle of conventional construction, owing to the fact that during the quenching, the fluid enters the bore 46 permitting a hardening from the center of the pin outwardly a substantial distance. Thus, a

pintle is provided having a greater amount of the metal constituting the same of the required hardness. and one which is provided with a hard core surrounding the centrallongitudinal bore as Well as a shell of hard metal of substantial depth at the outer surface of the pintle. When such a pintle provided with a central longitudinal bore is subjected to heating and quenching, I have found that the resulting product is invariably straight and true', whereas the conventional pintles are likely to be Warped after being subjected to the heating and quenching operations, and the increased stresses placed on the jaws of a tongs by a warped pintle often results in breakving of the jaws.

From the above description, it will be apparent that the application of such' a self-lubricating pintle to oil well tools will result in a pronounced saving of time and money in the oil well industry, as well as safe guarding life by preventing injuries due to the breaking of such heavy tools as tongs, elevators and other oil Well tools.

I claim: v

1. In an oil well tool of the type adapted to engage a. casing or .the like whe-n adjacent the surface opening of a well, a plurality of connected members which cooperate for embracing a casing and adapted to be secured to the same for exerting force thereupon,v certain of said members having the ends vthereof provided with two opposite bearing apertures, said two bearing apertures being lin alignment with and straddling a bearing aperture in an end of an adjacent member, pintles passing through the apertures for securing said members to one another to permit re1- ative movement between the same when said tool' is being applied to or removed from the casing, a lubricant receiving bore Iextending substantially throughout the length of each of said pintles, said bores being closed at one end and open at-the l other end of the pintle, means for feeding lubricant fro-m said bores to the bearing surfaces between said pintles and said members comprising feed passages extending-from said bores to the Vouter walls of the pintles opening into each of said apertures, and a tting adapted for connection with the discharge outlet of a pressure lubricant dispensing device carried by each of said pintles at the open end of said bores, whereby the bearing surfaces of the joints between the members may be cleared ci' oil well mud encountered adjacent the surface opening of the well by forcing lubricant under pressure through said bores, passages and bearing surfaces. l

2. -In an oil Well tool of the type adaptedto engage a casing or the like when adjacent the surface opening of a well, a plurality of connected members which cooperate for embracing a casing and adapted to be secured to the same for exerting force thereupon, certain of said members having the ends thereof provided with two opposite bearing apertures, said two bearing apertures being in alignment with and straddling a bearing aperture in an end of an adjacent member, pintles passing through the aligned apertures for securing said members to one another to permit relative movement between the same when said tool is being applied to or removed from the casing, a relatively narrow lubricant receiving bore in each of said pintles, said bores being closed at one end and open at the other end ofthe pintle, a relatively wide counterbore in each of said pintles at the open end of said bores, means for feeding lubricant from said bores to the bearing surfaces between said pintles and saidmembers comprising feed passages extending from said bores to the outer walls of the pintles opening into each of said apertures, and a fitting adapted for connection with the discharge outlet of a pressure lubricant dispensing device carried byv each of said pintles at the open end of said bores, said fittings being shielded within said counterbores, whereby the bearing surfaces of the joints between the members may be cleared of oil well mud encountered adjacent the surface opening' of the well by forcing lubricant under pressure through said bores, passages and bearing surfaces. Y

3. In an oil well tool of the typeadapted to engage a casing or the like when adjacent the surface opening of a well, a pluralityof connected members which cooperate for embracing a casing and adapted to be secured to the same for exerting force thereupon, certain of said members having the ends thereof provided with two opposite bearing apertures, said two bearing apertures being in alignment with and straddling a. bearingaperture in an end of an adjacent member, pintles passing through the aligned apertures for securing said members to one another to permit relative movement between the same when said tool is being applied to or removed from the casing, each of said pintles being provided at one end thereof with an enlarged head and a shoulder to limit the insertion of said pintles through the apertures, a relatively narrow lubricant receiving bore in each of said pintles, said bores being open at one end of the pintle and closed at the other end thereof, a relatively wide counterbore inthe head of each of said pintles at the open ends of said bores, means for feeding lubricant from said bores to the bearing surfaces between said pintles' and said members comprising feed passages extending from said bores to the outer walls of said pintles opening into each of said apert'ures,. and a fitting adapted for connection and bearing surfaces.

- WILLIAM W. WILSON. 

